Good afternoon, everyone.

Welcome to Public Works and Infrastructure Committee meeting.

I'm Commissioner Robert Patrick.

I'm joined by uh Committee Member Shakira Johnson and also our presiding officer.

We're also joined today by Commissioner Terry uh Super Six.

Uh with that being said, let's get into the minutes.

Agenda item 2026-0325.

Uh this is the minutes for February 3rd PWI committee meeting.

Commissioner, are you ready?

Yes, I am.

I move to approve item zero zero three two five.

All right.

I'll go ahead and second that.

All those in favor, raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right.

Moving on to new business.

We have under public works, roads, and drainage.

Agenda item 2026-0337.

This is for all commission districts.

Change order number two to contract number 1284296 and 1284 297 for stormwater system cleaning, video inspection services and repairs.

This is a multi-year contract for use by public works, roads, and drainage.

These contracts consist of stormwater system cleaning, video inspection services and repair.

This request seeks to increase the contract funds and term through December 31st, 2027, inclusive of price increases awarded to Kemi Construction Company Incorporated and ANS Paving Incorporated.

Total amount not to exceed $2,936,060.

And I believe uh Central Staff has already sent this over to Mr.

Lavois Campbell.

Although it does not cross that $3 million threshold, it's close enough where I think it's worth uh worth a look at it.

Um so we're gonna have that one uh deferred to our next meeting.

Uh next item is going to be on top of page two.

This is under Department of Watershed Management.

Uh this is for Commission Districts uh one and seven, agenda item 2026-0291.

Notice of partial abandonment and water and sewer easement.

And uh Director Wells, I guess will you speak to that about a for us?

Okay, so I'll speak I think we understand generally the concept is just flesh it out, make sure we're in the right direction, and then it goes before that uh I guess it is a public hearing for for next week.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir, along with I think a couple of other items.

So ultimately, um this is a specific location of Stewart Road in Doorville.

Um we're abandoning not only a sewer up but a water easement as well.

The um the previous development, I think it was an apartment complex, necessitated having uh the infrastructure there to uh serve the high density uh dwelling.

And uh since the property has changed hands, there's been a lot of demolishment.

Um so hence along with the uh removal and demolishment and decommissioning of some infrastructure, the easements are no no longer needed, right?

Um put it another way since all the development activity happened as you said, it may not be necessarily make sense for the department to hold on to this particular easement, and which is why this conversation is happening.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

Absolutely.

Perfect.

Okay.

Commissioner Johnson, any questions, concerns?

I have questions, so just I guess clarification.

This needs to come before us for a public hearing.

Is that what you said?

Oh, okay.

I see it now.

It's the first item on our public hearing for 26.

Okay, got it.

Thank you.

Yep.

Okay, thank you, Reggie.

All right.

Uh moving on to the next item.

Um, agenda item 2026-0129.

This is for all commission districts.

Cooperative agreement for cranes and hoist maintenance, inspection and repairs.

Cobb county contract number 24-6811 for use by the Department of Watershed Management.

Consists of purchasing off the competitive Cobb County contract number 24-6811 for inspection, service and repair of overhead bridges, cranes, gantries, monorails, and hoists awarded to Crane Service Solutions and Material Handling Systems Incorporated.

Total amount not to exceed 300,000 dollars.

Yes, sir.

This this item is um a co-op uh cob county contract that ultimately we're pigging back off of in order to have the necessary services to maintain inspect and repair our um crane and uh rigging systems within watershed, um, and particularly at all plants.

We have a lot of um heavy equipment, pumps, actuators that we have over overhead cranes and whatnot that we need to ensure maintain.

Understood.

Okay.

Uh Commissioner Johnson, any questions?

Nope.

I'm good.

All right.

Commissioner Terry, any questions?

No.

Okay.

I'll open the floor for a motion.

Yes, sir.

I move to approve item ending in 0129.

I'll go ahead and second.

All those in favor, raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

Aye.

All right, moving on.

Uh, this is under items previously heard.

We have agenda item 2025-1265 for all commission districts.

Lobit invitation number 25-1000.

Consent decree, ongoing sewer condition assessment and rehabilitation uh for use by the Department of Watershed Management.

Consists of performing consent decree assignments along with meeting the urgent needs that arise from operational events of the sewer system.

Recommend award to the lowest responsive and responsible bidders, Kami Construction Company Incorporated, and Southeast Pipe Survey Incorporated, total amount not to exceed 49,752,501.

Just gotta submit and we just got a substitute okay.

Uh Director Wells, if you'll speak to that.

Yes, sir.

So last PWI upon asking for the two week referral.

Um along with audit uh department of procurement and watershed, there was an opportunity to just do better, quite frankly, for the county.

Um through a series of of actions, we were able to do two things.

Have the uh unit pricing uh reduced for one particular vendor that we thought was kind of high.

Um secondly, we um apportion the um contract 6040 um due to the benefit of the county, the vendor that has the better unit pricing.

We asked if they could add additional capacity for a greater reward, um, and that allow us to um ultimately realize um roughly about 4.8 million uh reduction in reward.

Fantastic.

Um hence the the um substitute um I think previously we were at 4.9.

Um the new award is excuse me 49 million.

Um the new award is for 44.8 million in change.

All right.

Um and again, this has already been uh Mr.

Campbell's already signed off on this.

Yes, sir.

Yes, sir.

They they were they were part of um the process.

Yeah, they um quite frankly echoed some of the things that we were thinking, and um with their um with their backing uh procurement was uh willing to ask for a box for uh best and final offer, which led to some uh some savings.

Yeah.

Okay, perfect.

Absolutely.

Uh Commissioner Johnson, any questions?

No, no questions.

I do I did I was looking at that email from Audit and the reduction, so I really appreciate the work and saving the county money.

Absolutely.

Commissioner Terry.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um okay, so the savings were in going through the bid tabulation and looking at the the unit pricing quantity or the the actual pricing?

Both okay.

Meaning the you so that's a great point.

Um, but unit pricing did change.

Okay.

Um that's what I'm talking about.

Because in the past it's kind of been sort of well, you don't need like you used X number of linear feet last time and you don't need it this time and the same amount.

But this one to me, this is the the real savings of the unit pricing is being double checked.

Correct.

No, it's it's um now.

Of course, it's still based off utilization.

However, the the the reduction in unit prices to meet.

Yeah, absolutely.

Yes, yes, sir.

Okay, great, thank you.

Okay.

Uh unless there's any other questions, open the floor for a motion.

Yes, sirs.

Make sure I know where I'm at.

I move to approve this substitute for item one two six five.

I'll go ahead and second.

All those in favor, raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

All right, moving along.

Um we are done that quickly.

Wow.

Greatest show on earth is supposed to have more stuff, right?

Well, you you can't do that.

We're the greatest show.

No, I I know the presentation, but I got my it's gonna be exciting.

Okay, all right, all right.

Um Commissioner Terry, uh can we have about a 10 minute discussion on your item and then get into the other items, or would you prefer I do other stuff and then circle back to you?

Uh yeah, I think we can be five minutes actually.

Okay.

All right.

Um let me read it out.

Uh this is uh uh Super District 6 agenda item 2025-1787.

This is for all commission districts.

Resolution to enhance environmental equity and sanitation practices in DeCap County, uh sponsored by Commissioner Terry.

Great, thank you.

Um and I'll turn your all's attention to uh the map in the very um end of the packet here.

Um that that kind of visualizes what we're talking about here.

So um the one piece of information I don't have, Mr.

Chair, that I think Zach I'm gonna need your support on is we actually we have sort of the generalized radius, um, but we actually need to figure out in order to get an accurate fiscal impact of how many um uh addresses receive curbside service, and uh hopefully we can kind of ballpark it ish um because that would uh impact the fiscal statement.

So so we do know that based on GIS data, there's 4400 households approximately in that two mile radius.

Um but as you see in the discount structure for section one, uh it's a staggered discount.

And so if you live directly around the around the landfill, that blue area, 50 percent discount, and then 35 percent for half a mile to a mile, 20 percent, 10 percent as we go out uh to two miles.

And and this is really just born out of the fact that um I've got I sort of represent the western half of the landfill and the neighborhoods to the west, and there is um generally complaints about the smell throughout the year.

Um and so the goal here would be to uh one recognize that the individuals that live nearby do experience um more nuisance because of the landfill.

Um I believe the landfill is continuing to work on odor monitoring, Zach, but I think that was referenced in the resolution because we just want to make sure that the odor monitoring system is um as sort of robust as it can be.

Um and then there is uh a section two for air purifiers that um would support residents um based on some other jurisdictions that would provide some HVAT uh filter uh rebates um that you know potentially could support homes where maybe the ventilation is not so good, and you know, if if if there's uh if it's deemed that some of the odor is infiltrating into the homes, um there would be sort of a small rebate for the uh the MERV 8 to 3 12 and then the MERV 13 plus, which is sort of like more of the hospital grade um uh type um filters for your HVAC.

Um and then Yes, and then we're gonna continue to uh request that we um move forward on the composting plan, uh which I know Director Wells mentioned they're about 50 percent through the Pole Bridge master plan study to see sort of what um could potentially be done at Pole Bridge.

So um would certainly kind of you know defer to that process until we uh know exactly what's possible.

But the the key thing for the residents and based on the EPA uh uh data is that generally speaking, if a municipal landfill diverts more food waste into a composting program, then the uh the odors from the landfill can be reduced, as well as just the overall emissions coming from the landfill, which are greenhouse gases, and so by composting it, it actually captures um and you know creates sort of a nutrient rent so rich soil as well as carbon sequestration.

Um and then of course, since we were talking about uh how to pay for that 4.4 million earlier.

Um we do believe that the other jurisdictions have shown that composting facilities are revenue generators.

Um Athens Clark County generates about 1.3 million every year through their compost program.

Um and so in essence they're selling it to landscape companies, Home Depot, Lowe's, et cetera.

Um and you know, so we I do believe that this um uh in a way the composting revenues can support the overall sanitation fund, um, but also even potentially pay for some of these rebates uh that we're suggesting.

Uh we believe it would only be approximately 250,000 uh just based on sort of back of the napkin math.

Um but you know, Zach would love to get as much data as sanitation can provide about you know the number of houses that might be sort of in this area.

All right, and I'll yield back.

All right, thank you, Commissioner Terry.

Uh Commissioner Johnson, any questions?

Just um I know you're working through the process, but has uh financial impact been conducted and then has um this gone through legal uh well we don't have a financial impact because I don't have the exact number of addresses.

We know there's 4482 households uh according to GIS, um but that's in the two mile radius.

So the discount, you know, is is um staggered.

So um you know if it if everyone got the 50 percent discount, it'd be about 400 something thousand.

But it's probably it's gonna be less than that because most of the households are beyond that point five miles.

So I know it would be under 400,000 total.

So I definitely would like to see more definitive breakdown when when we're when you get to that point.

Yes, and then just um making sure we've looked at all aspects of what the implications would be of implementing something like this.

Okay.

And you asked about the law department.

So um County Attorney Phillips.

Um I believe we've done rebate pro I mean, the reason why we kind of brought up the rebate program is that's a common um sort of theme we've seen in other uh policies in the county.

I mean, is there any reason to believe that the a rebate program like this uh would be any different than the other ones we've done?

Off the cuff, no, we would obviously look at it.

Okay.

As as always, all of the details and circumstances matter.

But I can't off the cuff say that I see one.

Okay.

A reason why it would be different.

Okay.

But if you don't mind, just because the committee member asked um just make sure that there's no issue with doing a rebate program like this.

Understood.

Okay, thank you.

All right.

Uh just out of curiosity, do we know what the age of the landfill is?

Oh.

It's like the 80s, wasn't it?

It's been expanded over the years.

Zach, do we know when what the age of the of this area is and then age of the housing that surrounds it?

I I don't ask off the top of my head if you're asking me, uh, Mr.

Chair, but you're gonna have a mix, some uh homes were built after the landfill was there, and there may be some homes that were there before the landfill.

Okay, all right.

Um and then uh and and this is probably gonna be more of a Robert Gordon or whoever's uh over sanitation.

I apologize to forget the person's name.

Um but I'm remember this conversation we had previously about uh composting plan, and I thought the previous director said that they actually found that the composting increased the smell from the uh is there a way that we can address that question.

Is there any other data from other uh landfills that talks about uh some measurable way of saying that this does work, that this does in fact reduce the smells that come from it, or is there Yeah, I I think hopefully the study as we go further and further into studying pole bridge.

Um I have heard the same thing in fact that food waste because of uh the decomposition creates uh certain gases that are you know that you smell.

Um but that would maybe be more relevant at the seminal landfill site.

Um the study that uh we have commissioned as a result uh part of the discussion of the 1010 um uh water sewer rate uh increase was us to study uh the use of pole bridge for a variety of uh potential opportunities, one of which would be uh compost.

So that that's ongoing.

And when Commissioner Terry mentioned a study that's halfway through, I believe that's what he's referring to.

Okay.

Yeah.

And then I guess a follow-up question to that would be if we're doing composting, is there ways to containerize it where the smell is not able to blow with the wind, literally?

I'm sure.

I mean, even if you did it in inside and add certain air scrubbers and things, it's all about cost, but okay, we will kind of cross those bridges.

Okay.

Yeah, I can I can answer that if you want.

Um and then uh I guess as Commissioner Johnson mentioned uh the cost components to this.

Uh I know when we did the rate increase for sanitation, or I recall when we did the rate increase for sanitation that it helped stabilize the fund to a certain extent, but costs have also gone up since then.

So I'm just curious to know uh how stable the fund will be and what does this mean for the future going forward with with uh when when we do a uh uh true fiscal impact, not only of the potential uh offset uh or the reduction in revenue from uh the various residents and the and the different uh uh distance out from the landfill.

Um also there's the filters, there's a number of things in there that we'll we will uh kind of categorize what we think it would cost based on say 50 percent participation in the filters and so forth.

Uh but the long and short is um we're going to be coming back to you with more uh the cost of sanitation continues to go up.

Uh so we will need to increase fees to keep up with costs.

Okay.

All right.

Um just try to think of some other controversial places we've talked about.

I guess uh I remember from the airport there were conversations around property values, so if there's a way to look into property values, if that's a thing, let's let's uh be able to answer that question.

So if there's a way to look into property values, if that's a thing, let's let's uh be able to answer that question.

I'm sure that we could draw some circumference around the landfill, go out the two miles and then compare with most comparable areas.

Right.

Yeah, yeah, yeah.

Okay.

Okay.

All right.

Well, Commissioner Terry, uh what do you think?

Uh obviously it sounds like we're gonna need a little more time to look at it.

30 days, 45 days.

Uh yeah, I'm good for a deferral to get the uh the fiscal impact.

I was gonna say um uh at NACO um there is we're uh uh Director Gordon helped set up a tour of the Prince George's County uh composting facility.

Okay.

It's a public-private partnership.

Okay.

Um so my just to answer your question about the smell.

So I think the main thing is that the food waste is going to the landfill anyways.

Absolutely.

So it's so it's smelling.

Um the theory, though, is that when you process it in a compost facility separately, it not only reduces the um the emissions because you're sort of you know using the microbiological process to capture um, but it's also a revenue generator.

Okay.

And so this is the thing I keep saying, Zach, is if we are going to the residents with a rate increase this year.

I think it would be very helpful if we had the revenue uh strategy across the board, it's not just rate increases, it's compost facility, it's the gas collection, you know, system, right?

Um, and then the other little small piece of this that I learned in Athens Clark County is they actually make the most money by composting biosolids from the wastewater treatment plant.

So right now, wastewater uh waste watershed management is paying a tip fee at the landfill to dump the biosolids.

But if we divert biosolids out of the landfill, one it reduces the water content, which supports the leachate system, which is very expensive to maintain.

Um, but then again, we're actually processing it into compost that we can sell, and then it kind of creates sort of a closed loop system.

Um, and then I'm gonna you know keep saying it generates revenue where otherwise won't.

Um ever is this an Arcadis study or who's doing this financial study?

Uh CERM.

Well, CERM is doing the Pulridge study.

Okay.

All right.

So again, we're looking forward to the results of that.

Do we have an idea of when that study is coming back?

They're halfway through.

End of April.

Can we have this come back to coincide with that uh presentation?

Mid-May?

Second meeting in May, is that okay?

Yeah, you think we can uh kind of bring them together?

Because part of that study does help influence part of this resolution.

So let's bring it back to the I think mid-May, that way the study can get conducted, and that would give people time to digest it as well.

Right.

Right.

Okay.

So defer this item ending in 1787 to the second meeting in May.

May.

Uh I'll go ahead and second that.

All of those in favor, raise your hand and say aye.

Aye.

All right, perfect.

Thank you, Commissioner Terry.

Um, guys, uh I heard about this presentation.

Welcome, Director.

Thank you, Commissioner.

Um, for this opportunity to present.

Um, as you know, per our standard operating procedures, we revisit um the CIP every two years.

Um CIP 2024 kind of bled into 2025, but we are here for CIP 2026.

And part of the process involves looking at data, consulting our expert employees, our consultants, actually coordinating now with other departments, for example, stormwater departments, BLOS as to how we could merge projects, if projects are gonna overlap, um, when they're doing projects, and even with our cities, like if they have a streetscape project plan, we want to make sure that we're not disrupting overall.

So this is part of the effort, but of course, before we get to um CIP 2026, we are gonna look back and see some of the successes from CIP 2024, which involves multi-year projects.

So we have a video um which will create some highlights.

Um keep in mind that a lot of projects are multi-year.

So as you look at that video, you're gonna see projects that are being completed.

Some have had design that are getting ready to go into construction, some are just being initiated, and of course, it also involves our development arm, which is under the consent decree, our capacity assurance program.

Y'all have approved some developer private private public partnership there as well, and we had some successes.

We wanted to highlight still Pepsi because we still did some work last year to make sure that they could continue operations.

So I'll turn it over to our video and then I'll come back up.

Every day, the DeCab County Department of Watershed Management delivers millions of gallons of clean, safe drinking water to homes and businesses across the county.

But behind the scenes, much of this infrastructure, from treatment plants to underground pipelines, has served our community for decades and is now due for renewal.

The 10x10 plan provides for 10% annual water and sewer rate adjustments for the next 10 years, generating the stable, predictable funding needed to reverse decades of underinvestment in our water and sewer systems.

The CIP includes more than $4.27 billion in capital projects during the 10-year period, including $2.4 billion on wastewater projects and $1.9 billion on water projects.

Funding comes from rate adjustments, bonds, and state and federal loans.

These projects are improving service reliability and reducing breaks across multiple districts, including Scott Boulevard Phases 2 and 3 in Decatur, which have been completed, and the Peachtree Boulevard water transmission main replacement in Chambly, which is currently underway.

These upgrades enhance durability and performance, reducing the risk of sewer overflows and improving service reliability for residents and businesses.

A number of small diameter sewer upsizing projects were completed in 2025, including Cahili Drive, 2nd and 3rd Avenue, Cobb Creek, Sewell Estates, and Roman Court, which were all required for the Consent Decree Program.

These projects resolve more than 15 priority fixed list sites at a total of 34,000 plus linear feet for the consent decree.

The capacity assurance program ensures the county's sewer system can handle new development before any new sewer connections are approved.

If a sewer area doesn't have enough capacity, the county can approve new projects using capacity credits.

These credits come from fixing or upgrading parts of the sewer system, which frees up space for new development.

The PepsiCo bottling facility expansion exemplifies the benefits of DeCab's public-private partnership program for wastewater capacity assurance.

Beginning in 2022, PepsiCo began a 260 million dollar expansion of its bottling facility, which increased production by five-fold and added 136 full-time jobs.

This project will provide backup capability and capacity within the plant by eliminating reliance on plant infrastructure dating back decades at the county's sole water treatment plant.

Projects at the Snapfinger Advanced Wastewater Treatment Facility represent critical components of DeCab County's 4.27 billion dollar CIP.

Originally built in the 1960s, the facility was recently modernized and expanded to increase treatment capacity by 10 million gallons per day.

Further planned expansion at the plant in the coming CIP represents an investment of more than 300 million dollars.

The phase two project upgraded Snapfinger to a modern treatment system that cleans wastewater more efficiently.

The plant switched from an older method called activated sludge to a membrane bioreactor system.

This new system filters water through very fine membranes and produces cleaner, higher quality water.

The upcoming phase 3B project will install a UV system.

Once UV disinfection is in place, the plant will be able to stop using chlorine, which will improve health and safety for workers and the surrounding community.

DeCab County has multiple planned trunk sewer upsizing projects to eliminate sanitary sewer overflows and protect water quality.

Beginning in 2026 and continuing through mid-2037, the county will undertake one of the largest sewer infrastructure upgrades in its history.

Over the course of the project, more than 27 miles of trunk sewer will be replaced with larger, higher capacity pipe.

The first to get underway is Shoal Creek.

Thank you.

So we're getting ready to kick off that huge trunk line project.

As we move into CIP 2026, um, I wanted to reintroduce a couple of people that are really helpful.

Um, our cons um CIP program managers, ACOM, they're here.

As well as Brad is there, and they're going to come up to talk about just the CIP.

There's been about 10 years since we updated the guidelines as to how we define and deliver the CIP, and we want to just stay up to date with current practices.

So we're going through that effort as we are delivering CIP 2026.

So Greg is going to go over quickly the spend that we had last year, and Shane is going to talk about some of the improvements we're doing to the processes in how we ensure that we are delivering the correct CIP.

We're selecting the right projects, we're prioritizing them properly, and then we come to y'all for approval, then go out and execute after we get contracts.

The second part, um, I'm going to turn it over to one of our principal engineers, um, Arjun, and he will talk about one of our components of our system.

So if you wanted to indulge us, if we would like to bring to the board um one section of the infrastructure as we go along for different CIPs, with the final outcome being in May coming with the full CIP.

So you have a host of people right now, the third floor B side, it's all CIP workers, and we are working on it right now.

So as we go along, we want to kind of bring the board with us so you know what we're working on.

So Arjun is going to start talking about the transmission main, and Brad um, he did a lot with the master planning regarding transmission mains, and we're going to talk about a new strategy we we hope to implement to get ahead of the breaks we are seeing, especially with our pre-cast concrete, the large pipes.

Um, we want to kind of change gears because we've we've been a bit behind, like we're in engineering and the pipe fails.

And we have to rush and so we want to change gears and kind of get ahead of it.

So he's going to talk about that.

So I'm gonna first turn it over to Greg and we'll have everyone else.

All right, Greg, welcome.

Thank you.

Good afternoon, Commissioners.

How are y'all?

Doing good.

Thank you for being here.

Thank you.

Uh, as Maria indicated, I'm gonna first talk briefly about the CIP spin levels that we've had.

We're gonna advance the slide.

If you can see the the chart, um looking back historically in um on the graph, we go back to 2016.

Um, and the orange levels are what the spin level has been per year on the watershed management CIP.

You can see the dip there during the COVID years, but then starting to ramp back up.

So last year, 2025, we ended the year at around 221 million dollars in CIP spend.

Uh the plan last year uh we initiated the new 10 by 10 uh rate increases in the CIP 2024 over the 10 year period from 25 through 2034.

Uh so the first year of that was 2025, and the plan was 268 million.

So we're we're a little behind on that, and that the actual finish was around 221 million.

Uh some of that was during that first um quarter it took to get the rate increases approved and the new CIP approved before we got rolling, so there was some slowdown there.

But uh following that, the um the rate of uh increase did did pick up uh pretty pretty well.

Um we've had over 460 million dollars in contracts and added scope change orders approved through the board since that uh CIP was approved during the first quarter February March of last year.

So the the um the backlog of projects and contractual capacity is growing uh and in the manner so that we can actually deliver the projects uh in a way that the rates uh increase there as you can see on the previous slide.

So over that 10-year period, uh the next several years, the increased spending goes goes up substantially.

Uh for this year it's in the 360 to 375 million dollar range, and it is looking good for that with the contracts we have already approved through the board, and also a number of um contracts.

Number one, Shoal Creek, which all the BOC approved last week, which is uh a major truck server project, and then two other projects which are currently bidding uh through procurement were some of the largest projects that uh watershed management's ever bid.

So those are all looking good to be able to ramp the program up and get closer and meet meet the spending levels that are anticipated with the new CIP.

With that, I'll hand it over to uh Shane to speak on uh the CIP 2026 and uh the definition of that.

Great, thank you, Greg.

Shane, welcome back.

Afternoon, commissioners.

Um in gearing up to deliver uh the the current CIP, the 4.27 billion dollar plan, uh some of the things we've had to do is go back and sort of uh make sure that we have the right procedures in place uh to enable uh us to meet those objectives.

And uh so from the uh from 2017 we published uh program procedure manuals, PPMs, which really detailed how we do um sort of different things, components in the delivery of our uh uh program that includes like uh things uh from governance uh through to risk management, planning, needs analysis, um, and so forth.

Uh one of the things we found in trying to update uh those PPMs was that we did not have um a framework, a roadmap that sort of gives us the overall picture of how we do everything.

So gets us from one point to the next.

Um and in doing so uh we started developing uh the uh the program management plan that you that we plan to publish uh fairly soon.

We've uh developed a draft of that now uh that really puts all of those uh components together to to just sort of uh assist.

Um part of the part of putting the the document together was and not um not merely just sort of starting from scratch.

We've already got the program procedure manuals that I mentioned, but in general, we have always been following industry best practice, just sort of uh segmented in a segmented way.

Um and we've uh had to go back and just confirm that now what we've uh defined as four pillars, uh governance, uh planning, delivery assurance, uh that the the uh the PMP covers those things uh with the governance and insurance being sort of overarching uh pillars, and where we have planning and delivery being uh the core component of what we're doing in respect of that call component, uh we have the CIP lifecycle, which um speaks to us like sort of from the generation how how do we develop a project right through to the delivery of the the project.

In respect of that core component, uh we have the CIP lifecycle, which um speaks to us like sort of from the generation, how how do we develop a project right through to the delivery of the the project.

Um and what's um I plan on giving one more presentation on this to take you through the the detail of um sort of how these the the various phases work but in in essence uh in summary we begin with uh with the need identification, which involves us taking very uh in uh taking different bits of information from um uh regulatory requirements through to um through condition assessment, uh stakeholder requirements, uh ops and maintenance information.

We use that to build uh models and uh to inform basically the what the gap is.

So we can so we have a uh uh uh a def a definite basis.

You know, we're not just sort of guessing where these where our needs are.

We take those needs uh once we've identified them and uh sort of detail them further to the point that we can uh apply what we call a uh triple bottom line analysis, uh considering social uh economic uh environmental uh considerations or constraints uh into scoring those projects so that we can then from using sort of uh an equal datum or uh a plane to score all of our projects, and then we based on the scoring that we get from that, we can then um you know determine with respect to the uh the resources available available resources that we have, what we uh can sort of prioritize and move through to the CIP, which is a list that uh you will generally see and uh one that will become uh updated from last year.

Um at the end of the day, the the goal in in updating this and making sure that we have all of this correct is to uh sort of provide the the assurance that we are we have a structured plan that leads to us delivering uh our or meeting our objectives.

Uh one of the best ways that I've thought about this is that you know when we wake up tomorrow, we need to know what the the plan is, how much what projects we're going to have, what are the priority of this project, how much does it cost us, how long does it do those projects uh sort of uh exist for, and without that we can't move from sort of the reactive state that we are to a proactive state.

Um the information as we uh as we compile the information that uh that is pertinent to uh to the update or the refresh of the the CIP.

Uh we've uh established uh a site, a SharePoint site where we will be collating that information.

Uh I believe that uh that link has already been shared with you.

Um and um yeah, we'll keep you we'll keep you updated on that.

Any questions?

Um Commissioner Johnson, any questions?

Not at this time.

I just a comment though.

I'd really appreciate it.

Um I think it was on the previous slide.

One governance and delivery model for every project in every district.

I think that is so important that that is top of mind, even on our CRP projects that we are trying to really live and talk the walk of one cab.

So I really appreciated that being top of mind.

Sure.

And in the next presentation, there's a little bit more to that where you see the same scoring, same criteria is uh applied to across the board to all the projects.

Yeah.

Yeah, I think I think the citizens will appreciate that as well.

Agreed.

Uh Commissioner Bolton, any questions, any comments?

Not yet.

Okay.

Well, Shane, uh that's it for now.

Thank you.

Okay, thank you.

Hey, sir, welcome.

Mr.

Chair, Commissioners, um, my name is Arjun Birdsman, I'm a principal engineer with Watershed.

Um this is about the water transmission main resiliency, and this is about uh 60-inch water main that we are planning.

Um the 60-inch water main is necessary to provide the capacity for the future growth of this county, but also very importantly to provide the resiliency so that as watershed we can deliver on our promise of reliable water service to this county.

Um it's four phases.

Phase A approximately nine and a half miles from the Scott Candler plant to um the North Lake Mall area.

The routing for phase A has been established, and we've recently started the detailed design for the first 2.2 miles of that stretch of uh 60 inch main.

For phase B, we're in the process of determining the route.

And phase C and D will uh occur in the future to complete the loop.

As you can see from the small insert chart, uh phase B is located in the heart of this county, uh which provides a number of challenges.

It's heavily built out and it's crisscrossed by highways, uh interstates, railroads, and uh all kinds of streams and creeks.

Another set of challenges is and I've shown the map of uh our current transmission mains, uh those of the large water mains.

Um we obviously uh the what is it the total length of phase B.

The approximately 15 miles, they're not going to be built in one shot.

Um so one of the challenges is to route it in such a way that we can have meaningful connections to the other large mains.

Uh we have to avoid putting our new main in the same corridors with existing mains.

And but where possible uh if existing mains that are nearing the end of their technical lifespan uh can be replaced by the 60 inch mains, we try to take advantage of that.

Um the way we determined our route.

Uh first of all, the engineering and planning team uh consists of um the watershed uh engineering and construction management services team led by uh Deputy Director uh Williams.

Um the AECOM uh program management team that provides um specialist services and general assistance, and our consultant on this project is uh Frieza Nicholson Graham and associate that uh who are doing the leg work and quite literally they did walk the route uh to confirm that uh it's feasible.

Um selecting the route uh we have um taken the following in uh into consideration constructibility estimated construction cost, uh the segment hydraulic benefit, uh service delivery risk, utility uh congestion, environmental impact, transportation impact, public works infrastructure project interference, historic preservation impact, disadvantaged communities impact, um, easement acquisition requirements, and lastly uh the impact on future uh CIP projects.

And this is the route uh we came up with uh it starts at North Lake Mall inside the perimeter.

Uh it snakes to Clarkston from Clarkson to Avondale, where it is uh connected uh where we'll be connected to the Avondale uh elevated storage tank and then it uh goes west towards City of Decatur and it terminates at the Claremont uh elevated storage tanks with which is right next door to the uh VA hospital.

Uh one of the advantages of this route is that we were able to eliminate um 21, uh 700 feet, uh which is over four miles of existing 30-inch PCCP um concrete transmission main, uh which will result in 40 to 45 million dollar uh cost savings.

Um very limited length uh where the new transmission main uh parallels existing transmission mains, and finally the capital cost is estimated at around 278 million dollars.

Thank you.

Yeah, thank you.

Uh Commissioners, any questions?

Commissioner Johnson.

Yes, thank you, Mr.

Chair.

Um so I think this slide kind of answers my question about decommissioning the existing lines.

So some will be decommissioned, but some would stay on in service to help with redundancy.

Most of the launch transmission mains will stay in service.

The case that I mentioned about the replacement of the 30-inch concrete main stressed uh concrete center pipe mains are undesirable pipes, and we're in the process of replacing a number of them right now.

Okay.

But if you can replace it with the future 60 inch main, that's definitely a benefit to both our water system to the reliability of the system and to uh to the rate payers.

Yeah, especially if if we do have a break, if we have some redundancy in the system, then less people are without the water.

Correct.

That's that's a major um reason for the 60 inch main to have that extra capacity to have that extra redundancy.

Awesome.

Thank you.

I yield.

All right, thank you.

Commissioner Bolton, any questions?

Yes, and it's because it's too small for my eyes to see on the printout.

The dotted lines were the decommissioned lines, is that right?

That is correct.

Okay, so over here by Atlanta, all of that will be gone.

Because I see that it's disconnected at the end, but if it's decommissioned, then correct.

That's that's a stretch along Clamold Road, yes.

Okay, I yield back.

Okay.

All right.

Uh thank you very much.

Uh Maria?

We're going to wrap up just quickly with our new strategy.

So you may be familiar with Brad.

Um he helped us with the master planning effort, and we were utilizing one strategy.

If you recall, not last year, year before, we talked about from our water treatment plant, we literally have just lines going down.

There's no overlap, there's no redundancy.

So the lines that are from 1941, and we do have a 30-inch main from 1941, Atlanta does too.

Um I won't say anything else.

Um that feeds Emory, by the way.

So how do you fix that?

And that's why we're building the loop so that we could gradually.

But I will let Brad just talk about a little bit more of the strategy there, and then we will close out.

Yeah, this actually goes to your question, Commissioner Johnson.

Um the uh so we have four major transmission mains that transmit water north to south through the county.

That's the simplest way to look at it.

We have two forty-eights and two thirties.

Uh the two forty-eights, relatively speaking, are newer.

One was put in around 1960, the other in the mid-70s.

But the 30s, much older.

One was built in 1941, the other was built in the early 50s.

Um we've been having numerous breaks on those lines, uh, lots of problems with them.

We've already replaced substantial portions of those mains.

The Peace Tree Industrial Project is one project that is replacing some of that.

The three Scott Boulevard phases, another project that replaced a lot of those uh pipes.

Now, as we've been progressing, uh as part of the original master plan, we did have water main renewal in there.

But it was just sort of, it wasn't part of the scope to get into super detail on what we were going to renew and how we were going to renew it.

It was just sort of put in as a big lump sum type bucket.

And uh as you know, we've been starting to break that down into projects, doing a lot of the small diameter replacement all over the place.

We've been replacing a lot of small diameter mains.

Well, some of that money was also intended to go towards the larger transmission mains.

So as we've started to realize that these two 30-inch mains are gonna age out, you know, in the next 20 years or so.

Uh as I said, we're still we're having more and more breaks on those pipes, becoming more and more frequent.

Um if you look at this map, there's there's actually a substantial amount of synergy between phase D and the routing that we carved out during the master plan for phase D, that purple line you see on the map, and the two 30-inch mains, which roughly parallel it just to the east.

Okay.

So the idea is that instead of replacing those 30-inch mains in kind and then building phase D of the 60-inch, why don't we just upsize the 230s with you know slightly larger mains, say 48s, and then we won't need to do the 60 at all.

And if you take and you actually go out and calculate, you know, what the cost savings is there by instead of building that 60 plus 230s, instead of doing that, just build two forty-eights, we're gonna save in the neighborhood of 150 to 200 million dollars over 20 years, um, which is substantial amount of money.

Uh and so that's what we're starting to get looking at now is what you just spoke to, which is the the synergy between you know replacing existing mains and potentially building new transmission mains, can we do both with one two birds one stone basically at that point?

Okay.

So I just wanted to talk about that real quick.

Okay, uh quick question.

So um I think we all appreciate the the financial savings component you just mentioned.

But by going with the 248s, does that somehow uh restrict our ability to be able to service the anticipated million residents?

No, it does not.

In fact, the 248s are hydraulically superior to the single 60.

So we have more capacity by doing 248s than we would with just a single 60.

Wow.

So yeah.

Um so it's it's a it's a big benefit.

Okay.

Overall.

Yeah.

The idea is that we want to get the county to the point where we can take any of these major transmission mains out of service for inspection, maintenance, whatever, replacement, repair, whatever, and we don't lose the whole county.

You know, we don't lose water service to the whole county, which has happened in the past.

And that's what we're trying to avoid here.

Okay.

So yeah.

Um another question, if you don't want me asking.

So as we get down into, I guess, the district three area, south uh southwest to CAB as well as you know, Stone Crest area.

I see all the large transmission lines coming from the north to sort of north or south central.

How does water what what's the plan for these other areas?

So there's actually a substantial network of large diameter mains in that area.

They're just this is showing only 30 inch and above.

Okay.

There's a substantial network of 24, 20, and 16-inch mains down there that support that whole area.

And we're actually uh right now we're developing a plan for large diameter condition assessment.

The initial phases of that is focusing on the older northern mains because they are the ones that are presenting with the most problems right now.

Most of the southern mains were built more recently, they're in better shape, they're built out of better materials in some cases.

Um so we haven't had nearly the problems with those.

But phase two of that condition assessment plan will be to start to look at those southern mains and you know, evaluate them and do do condition assessment on them so that we know in the future when those are going to need renewal as well.

So and then um with development on the south side, uh, I think there was conversations from years past of um debris sort of forming inside the water pipes that was restricting the flow.

Is that still an issue?

Are you guys finding a way to clear that out so we can still get life out of those old pipes?

So I think what you're referring to is the tuberculation in smaller diameter mains.

Um mostly that those kind of and that's mostly small diameter stuff.

We don't really have a lot of large diameter old cast iron like that that would tuberculate.

A lot of the old cast iron is from the early 1900s, pre-1940.

Um it was unlined, which is why it tuberculates.

And a lot of that has been replaced.

For example, do you recall the 20 miles we did in the Briar Cliff area, Briarcliff Corridor Project?

That was all early 1900s cast iron.

And that was all tuberculated, and that's why we're having so many problems down there, and we've replaced all that.

And that we are working towards getting rid of all that pipe in the county.

Okay.

Just period.

Uh and then a final question.

Um roads and drainage has a rating system.

I think it's one to a hundred for the pipe or for the roads.

Do we have a rating system for our pipes and and are we I think uh one of the directors said we're sort of out of the twenties and getting into the 30s for the water quality or road qualities, I should say.

Is there something analogous to that that you guys go by?

Well, we do have the the asset management program, yeah.

We do.

So right now we could share on previous um as we go through the CIP, we will be able to demonstrate um every pipe in the county, both the water and the sewer side.

Um we have undergone with our partners at Arcadis um uh asset management evaluation, and we do know where the tipping point is.

However, I do want to keep in mind that with Brad, um, we've already packaged over 400 packages of projects that are needed.

And CIP, the 10-year CIP only resolves how much out of the I think it was 80.

What did it say?

266 miles.

Yeah, it's but for the small diameter, I think it's only out of the 400 that we've already packaged, it's only about covers about 800.

88, about 80 projects.

Gotcha are covered in the 10 year.

So we have a lot of work.

But we do know we have completed that analysis and we'll be sharing, you'll actually see it's a wonderful dashboard.

And you could put how much money you want to invest in it, and you could see um what happens um to the pipe when we actually get to from moving out of the red to the orange to yellow to green.

And the short answer uh there have been as part of the asset management study and program, they they went through and assigned risks risk scores to all the pipes based on age, material, uh failures, um, where they are, whether they're along, you know, major road, G DOT road, you know, near major fruit, you know, important critical facilities, things like that.

Uh and so every pipe was scored with a risk score.

That's probably the closest analogous thing I can think of to what you asked about with roads.

Okay, perfect.

And this will be all done by 28, so I'm grateful.

Commissioners, any questions?

I did have a question by 28.

I wonder why Johnson is.

Um you mentioned the phase two assessment that we'll start looking more at the pipes, the I guess more mid-size pipes in the south uh of the county.

When is that slated to start or has that assessment started?

That'll probably be in year six through ten of the tenure.

We can only do so much width.

Yeah.

Okay.

Understood.

Got it.

Okay.

Unless you all want to do an infusion.

Yeah.

From where?

We want to.

That's not a good one.

Can we?

That's always the question.

But but we do have a plan.

We do have a systematic plan that you will be able to see at the end of it.

And the reasoning, as Shane mentioned, we are trying to be systematic in how we approach all of our projects.

Ultimately, the larger pipes in the northern part of the county are more important simply because they have to move the water from there to the southern part of the county.

I don't know, on one of my figures I showed you, 60% of the water used in the county is south of the the ridgeline that goes through the county.

And then 40% of the water use is north of that.

But the water plants way up at the top.

We got to get all that water down to those 60% can you know get all the water down where they need it.

And th that's why those pipes are so important.

Yeah.

And then follow-up question with the phase two assessment.

And I'm I'm certain we've considered this, but wanting to make sure that you know those pipes are in good condition now, but um before we we don't need in the tip into lifespan, end of their lifespan or something like that before we complete the assessment.

Right.

So we're getting ahead of the curve.

That's what we're trying to do.

For a salary cab than what we were able to do for North.

Yes, that is correct.

That's exactly what we're trying to do.

Thank you.

Perfect.

Okay.

Uh great questions, Commissioner Johnson.

Commissioner Bolton, any questions?

No, I think you guys covered it.

Okay.

All right.

Um again, thank you, Maria, uh, for the work that you guys have done to this point.

Um, I know it's a team effort within uh within watershed, so thank you very much for what you're doing.

I do want to recognize our other team members that stick with us every Wednesday.

We have purchasing as well.

We have law, finance, communications.

So it's a huge effort.

It's a lot of people that meet to strategize every Wednesday for two hours and then go out.

Um so we do that all along in addition to the host of technical experts on the third floor.

So we'll be coming back hopefully if you will allow us at the next PWI to share on a different portion of our infrastructure.

Yeah, absolutely.

Follow-up go ahead.

Yeah.

Um the video that we shared at the beginning, is that can we share that as well?

Is it somewhere we can share?

Okay.

Um DC TV will have uh um it is available right now on YouTube.

The link is on YouTube.

I'll talk to Aviva to how we make that available.

As you know, in addition to your SharePoint site, which will have more confidential, sensitive information.

We are also posting our presentations on our CIP site as well, so the public will have a resource as well in our communication strategy.

So thank you.

Can we share?

Uh hang on one second, Commissioner Bolton.

Yeah, just really quick a clarifying question with respect to the spending that was on slide five where we we saw a gradual in increase.

I'm sorry, decrease from 2019, but I just wanted to clarify when it began to go up again after 21.

That was due to I'm assuming SPLOSS spending, but here forward it'll primary it will be from the 10 by 10.

Is that right?

That's correct.

Um actually we did have one rate increase.

Um, the first one, I think, in 14 years in 22, wasn't that correct?

And that allowed us to issue bonds, I think 400 and something million in bonds.

So we were running out of funds, and then we were had a bond infusion.

At the same time, we had Wi-Fi loans and GIFA loans.

And we drew down on that, of course, in 2024, and again needed an infusion.

So now with the 10 by 10, we have a consistent source, and that's really our projections.

As you can see in the latter years, we plan to ramp up to spend half a billion per year to continue tackling the issue.

Nice.

Are any of those projects still active from those other sources of funding, or have we completed those?

So we still have um I think we have some remnants of projects.

Okay.

Right.

You're right.

No.

Um just a uh reminder, we do have um we utilize about 10 million in in SPLOS, then um in our bucket, 10 million is wonderful, and we will take any of the SPLOS you can send our way.

But that's kind of like a street corner for us.

Right.

Um but um to answer your question about the um projects.

I don't think we have any remainder projects.

I think once we finish the Scott Boulevard, because the Scott Boulevard, when did that start?

Phase one.

Greg.

Uh 20.

That has been a that has been a long project, um, probably over five years.

So that's probably with the conclusion of that one.

We've finished a lot of the small diameter, even on the sewer side.

So we're now into additional um dollars being spent.

So thank you.

That's a challenge with multi multi-year projects, you have to I yield back.

Okay, all right.

Again, Maria, thank you.

Uh Reggie, both of your teams uh really appreciate what you guys are doing for the county and getting us uh in compliance and also getting us modernized for growth.

So thank you very much.

All right, commissioners.

Um I acknowledge it's 512, but uh we do have a proposed budget discussion.

If if I could keep uh keep you guys here for a little bit longer, and then I guess if TJ is still here, uh ask him to come on up.

And I don't know if central staff is gonna hand out more information, but I'm looking at a document that was handed out at uh ERPS, I guess.

Okay.

We've got some copies coming.

All right, perfect.

TJ.

All right.

Good afternoon, Mr.

Chair.

Um so yes, I I think I have the same same document that you're looking at, um, which has let's see, six different departments budgets highlighted.

Um so I'll go through those just as I did at the um ERPS meeting earlier.

So the first on the list is the roads and drainage speed humps maintenance fund.

Um the proposed budget is six hundred and thirty-one thousand this year versus six hundred and seven thousand uh last year, so it's an increase of twenty-four thousand or four percent.

And that's really just due to um more plan or increases in um contractor costs for speed home construction and increased retirement cuts or retirement service costs.

So um that fund I will mention uh usually carries a fairly large fund balance, and we uh usually budget more than they end up spending, so a lot of that returns to the fund balance at the end of the year.

Okay, perfect.

And when you referred to retirement, you're not talking about retirement of the speed tables, you're talking about the actual employees that they're doing.

So since we were talking about retirement in the earlier committee, the way that we budget for that is based on the retirement earnings from the previous year.

So we take that number that the actuary gives us of what our retirement contribution needs to be for this year, and then we do a percent allocation across all departments that had pension earnings last year.

Okay, okay, thank you.

Okay, uh sanitation.

Uh they have a proposed increase of four percent, so right under through uh four million dollars.

So uh partly that just reflects higher operating costs uh as well as um an anticipated rate increase.

Um the increases are driven by debt service for the GIFA loan and a increase in C and G prices, about which is about 1.1 million dollars, uh, as well as higher interfund and personnel costs.

So um I do believe that in our review going back through some of the debt service that there might be a decrease in debt service for the sanitation fund, so you might not see as large of an increase once we have those amended numbers.

Okay.

Next is the streetlight funds under transportation.

Make sure I'm in the right order.

Yep.

So uh it has an increase of just over two million dollars, which is a 43% increase.

Reason for that is for several years their revenue has lagged behind what the actual cost is to provide electricity for street lights.

So we've been subsidizing that through the tax funds.

And with the uh user fee study that we're having conducted by MGT, the hope is the goal is to have a new rate structure that's going to generate enough revenue for that fund to be self-sustained self-sufficient.

Nice, perfect.

So um we're still waiting for the results from that study.

They should be available next month.

So do we know how long uh the other funds have been supporting this?

Uh I have to you know look back to give you an exact, but I I'd say about two or three years.

Two or three years, okay.

All right.

Then um going a little bit out of order just because they're connected, but if you could look at the the last um department is the transportation designated fund where there's a decrease of 1.5 million.

That's mostly due to that subsidy that we're removing now this year because it's uh because the streetlight fund is supporting itself.

Understood.

Okay.

Okay, that makes sense.

All right.

Um and then the other two on the list are watershed management.

So I think you just heard uh a lot about watershed management, but um the increase is um about 19 percent to their water and sewer fund.

Uh so that's uh close to 57 million dollars.

That's due to the rate increases as well as the additional uh funding from those going to capital.

Um and then the sinking fund, which is our debt service for watershed management, is also increasing by 33 percent.

Again, just driven by the additional debt service.

Okay.

Um TJ, thank you for that quick run through.

Uh commissioners, uh, any questions that have come up?

Anyway, nothing.

Okay.

Um TJ, thank you for what you did.

Thank you for putting this down uh on paper.

Uh as always digestible and easily to understand.

Thank you much.

You're welcome.

Um commissioners, I think we are done with our agenda for this week.

And so at this point, I will ask for a motion to adjourn.

I move we adjourn.

I'll go ahead and second.

All those in favor, raise your hand say aye.

Aye.

All right.

Thanks, everybody.

Appreciate your time.